Cuts and Strikes
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: When Luxa and Stellovet get into a fight, it's Solovet's job to deal with Luxa. Too bad they end up in a fight too. - Pre-Underland Chronicles, one-shot.


Cuts and Strikes

"Ow."

"That did not hurt."

"You do not know if it hurt or not. You are not me."

Solovet only continued to pat at the cut above her granddaughter's eye with a sigh. She could have taken Luxa down to the hospital, but there was no way that she wished to bring upon all that drama such a thing would cause.

"Do not talk back, Luxa."

"You do not command me. You- Ow! You did that on purpose."

And? Solovet pressed the cloth harder against the wound, causing Luxa to turn away from her. The brat.

"You will not talk back," Solovet repeated. That time Luxa only nodded before letting her grandmother tend to her wound again. "Now tell me again what happened?"

"Why? You will not believe me. You never believe me."

"Luxa-"

"If you hurt me again, I will tell Vikus."

As if that was a threat. Sighing, Solovet shifted slightly, as she was not used to be on her knees for so long. Still, it was easier to just kneel in front of Luxa, as she was still so short. She was only nine, after all.

Removing her hand then from her granddaughter, the woman just stared at her for a long moment before saying slowly, "If you expect me to believe, Luxa, that Stellovet just-"

"She did! She did! She is horrible and I hate her."

"You do not hate-"

"I do. I wish she were dead."

"Luxa-"

"You only like her better because she does not tell you the truth. She lies and says all these wonderful things about you."

That made Solovet frown. "What are you trying to tell me?"

Luxa only shook her head slightly. The wound over her eye had still not clotted and was bleeding once more. "I do not like them. Why must they come to the capital? The capital is mine. They can have the Fount. I do not care for it. I-"

"The Fount is yours, Luxa, and never let me hear you say otherwise."

"But-"

"And they came because Susannah is my daughter."

"And? You do not like her."

Well, that could not be argued with. Honestly, it was Susannah's fault that the thing had blown up as it had. If only York had come to the capital, it would have all blown over by that point. Instead, Susannah had been in the room when Luxa, according to nearly everyone else in the room, just hauled off and hit her cousin. That of course resulted in Stellovet shoving her into the table in the room, resulting in Luxa's cut eye. It sure beat Stellovet's black one, but that was rather irrelevant at the moment.

Then Susannah had to go and act all upset over the entire thing. Ugh. York and Vikus were dealing with her though, which was great for Solovet. She had a hard time faking things with Susannah for some reason. At least in the more recent years. Her powers worked on most anyone, but Susannah had at some point become immune to them. The little brat.

"It does not matter, Luxa. And at the moment, I do not rather like you either."

"Good." She looked up then and off. "You're nothing, but a mean old lady. Henry says-"

"Henry says, Henry says, Henry says. I am rather tired of Henry today, Luxa." Solovet finally stood, tossing the cloth in her hand to the ground. She was over being the nice, nurturing grandmother for the moment (not that Luxa thought she ever was, even when she was trying) and was also finished with her granddaughter. "Is he the one that made you-"

"No!" Luxa turned then, looking off. It was rare that she was in her parents' old bedroom even though it was in the royal wing of the palace. Still, it was where Solovet had dragged her off to when the fight happened, reminding her of how Judith used to be. Swallowing then, she said, "Stellovet is lucky that I did not have a sword. I would have-"

"_You_ are lucky you did not have a sword. Else we would be having a very different conversation."

"In what way? You would still be yelling at me." Luxa glanced at her grandmother out of the corner of her eyes then, slowly grinning. Solovet noticed and frowned.

"What? What is funny, Luxa?"

"I do not know what you are talking about."

"Luxa-"

"I am only thinking of how wonderful life will be when you are gone."

"Gone," Solovet repeated slowly. "Where will I be going?"

"When I come into power? Nowhere nice."

Rolling her eyes, Solovet took a slow breath before counting to ten. Disciplining Luxa was never something she enjoyed. That was mainly because dealing with Luxa in general was not pleasurable for her in the most part. She liked to think of Luxa as just a nice little pawn, waiting around to be used to take down the gnawers when the time came. Instead, she time and time again presented herself to be a complication.

"What do you want, Luxa?"

That made the girl turn around, more out of shock than anything else. That was not a sentence her grandmother used often and she knew it had to be a trap. "Want?"

"From this situation. What do you want me to do?"

"It does not matter what I want. You will only take Stellovet's side and punish me. You always-"

"How can you expect me to take your side, Luxa, when you tell me the reason you struck her was because she was making light of that invalid-"

"Do not call her that! Nerissa is not that. She is not. You are-"

"What is with you, Luxa, and this girl and her brother? You treat them better than you treat any of us. And we are your real family."

"You are _not_ my real family. You or your wretched grandchildren. I hate you all. Henry and Nerissa are my only family. I-"

"You do not even make sense, Luxa. What makes them more your family? Because they inherit more if you die? You do realize this, yes?"

She would have thrown something at her, had the room not been bare. But it was bare. Because no one slept there anymore. No one ever slept there anymore. No one…ever…

"I hate you!" Turning fully from her then, Luxa couldn't help it as she began to cry. Then, to hide it further, she fell onto the bed in the center of the room, burying her head in the mattress.

Solovet only groaned at the sound of her tears. Crying was never something that Solovet supported. After the age of two, she did not put up with it. From anyone. …well, she more or less had to with Susannah. The woman cried at the drop of the hat. Happy, sad, complacent. It was another thing that drove a wedge between them.

"Stop it, Luxa. Now. Before I get more annoyed." When the girl did not move to get up, she took a step closer. "You are going to get blood on the mattress. I-"

"So? Who cares? No one sleeps here anymore. No one ever sleeps here anymore!"

Oh. _That_. Solovet though that they had gotten passed that. It was beyond her that the girl would need so much time for grieving over her parents. Honestly, Solovet had lost much as well. But she used it to build herself up, not tear herself down. She thought of Judith's death frequently, as a way to remind her of the true goal of everything. The gnawers had taken something from her, many things from her, and she knew that she would get back at them for it. If Luxa was going to survive, she was gong to have to learn the same lesson.

"What do you want me to do then, Luxa?" She was at the edge of the bed then, exasperated as she leaned over to look at the child. "Bring your parents back from the dead?"

Luxa turned faster than Solovet was expecting, but she had always been quick for her age. But, always, Solovet was faster. When Luxa swung at her, she caught the girl's fist, about ready to begin explaining that she was not as naïve as Stellovet. The only problem was that Solovet's nails had scratched Luxa's arm, sparking another knee-jerk reaction.

Solovet gasped, letting her go when Luxa jerked her leg up and kicked her grandmother in the eye. Even Luxa was shocked by this, though it quickly faded into fear of what Solovet would do to her. Luxa was an audacious child, but she was not completely full of herself. Solovet could kill her. She very well could kill her.

When Solovet opened her eyes, it was in shock. Slowly, she blinked as she stared at her granddaughter. It did not take long for her to register the fear on the girl's face. That usually would have irritated her, as fear was a weakness and she tried very hard to keep Luxa from ever have any of those, but instead she only stared. The kid had kicked her. A child. Something most grown men could not do. She very well could have given her a black eye.

How would she ever explain that one away?

"Please do not kill me," Luxa whispered then, making Solovet frown at her until the words registered.

Kill her. The girl though that she was going to kill her. Ha.

Slowly, so very slowly, Solovet moved to sit down on the bed. Then, swallowing though her throat was dry, she whispered, "Come here, Luxa."

She didn't trust the woman. She didn't trust anyone really. But still, she had no choice than to listen to the Solovet. Resistance was usually futile. And if worse came to worse, she would just yell for Vikus. He let Solovet do many things, but he would never let her kill her…would he? She had no reference point for what she had done. Hit other children? Sure. Fine. But hit Solovet? _Solovet_? She had no basis for what sort of punishment that would inspire. Death sounded likely. Henry told her that Solovet killed people all the time. She used their souls to keep herself young.

…It didn't sound entirely likely, but it did make a good story.

Still, Solovet had told her to come over, so she did so. She sat there for a moment or two in silence, on her dead parents' bed, awaiting her grandmother's words. It took them awhile to come.

"Do you really think I would kill you?"

Luxa blinked. Then, looking up at the woman, she nodded.

"Really? After I have given my all to keep you alive?"

Again, she nodded. "You killed my mother."

That made her frown. "What? Luxa, you know how Judith died. The gnawers-"

"The gnawers killed her because of what you did. Vikus told me that it is your fault that they are so angry with us. That you are the one that made them that way. That you continue to make them that way. That you refuse peace. That when we get peace, you-"

"Vikus," she said slowly. "Vikus told you that I killed…that I…"

"No. He just said-"

"Then you decided for yourself that I killed my daughter?" Then she corrected herself. "That I _caused _my daughter's death?"

"You did," Luxa said softly, but with certainty. She had.

Setting her jaw then, Solovet looked down at the girl then with her most intense of gazes. "Gnawers are filthy, worthless, bloodthirsty creatures. They wish for our demise because they despise how great we are. They are jealous. And if they ever speak of peace to you, they are merely attempting to trick you. Do you not understand that, Luxa?"

"I-"

"Have you learned nothing? Have you forgotten who it was who slit Judith's throat? Who stabbed your father through the heart? Who drug their claws into the bodies of that worthless aunt and uncle you cared for so much? Because it was not me, child. Oh, no. It was not me."

Solovet was always a master at timing and let that sink in then, just let Luxa sit there silently, soaking up the words. When enough time had passed, she spoke in a kinder, softer tone.

"Now, Luxa, who killed your parents?"

"…Gnawers."

"Which gnawer?"

"King Gor-"

"_No_, Luxa," she said, shaking her head then. "All gnawers killed them. All gnawers killed Judith. All of them. No matter their allegiance, no matter their words, no matter their pleas. Pups and all. They all killed your parents. And it is going to be under your reign that I am going to punish them for that. Is that alright with you?"

Luxa swallowed before nodding slightly. "Yes."

"Good." Solovet closed her eyes again. "Good."

It was silent again, but not for long. Far too quickly for Luxa's liking, Solovet fell out of the teaching mode and back into attack mode. Luxa had hit someone earlier. Twice, if you counted the kicking.

Solovet definitely counted the kicking.

Luxa tensed when Solovet's hand clamped over the back of her neck. Squeezing for a moment, Solovet thought through all the ways to get back at her granddaughter for what she had done before realizing that she didn't want to. She just didn't want to. It was not her plan to ever punish Luxa, really. She was just going to talk to her long enough to where Susannah thought she had punished her.

Stellovet was a little brat, after all.

…But then again, so was Luxa.

"You have some nerve, girl," she told her softly then, moving to stand. "Kicking me. Some mighty big nerve."

Luxa started to smile. Then Solovet looked back at her and shut her right back down.

"But if you ever strike me again, I might not kill you, but I won't be so nice to you either."

Nodding numbly, Luxa slowly got to her feet, replaying the whole scenario in her mind. Solovet, however, was already forgetting about the whole thing while a new problem popped up in her mind.

Really, just how was she going to explain that black eye?


End file.
